This post is for the people, which to my surprise are many, that thinks people believe Sharapova's accomplishments are more unbelievable that that of the Williams'. It is also to address that those of you who think Americans would prefer to watch Sharapova. This article is to prove how much some of us need schooling, in particular this individual

When Maria won Wimbledon in 04 I remember going to my local pub that night and hearing old men, young children, black and white, gay and straight everyone you can think of all discussing it . I couldn't believe it, none of them had a major interest in tennis but there they were all around bar stools discussing the Russians amazing achievement. They all were talking about Yuri and the hardship the family endured in order for Maria to play tennis. It was a remarkable moment and I never remember that reaction for Serena or Venus

NEW YORK (AP) -- Venus and Serena Williams helped make tennis more popular than football, for one night at least.

Nearly 23 million viewers watched at least part of Venus' 6-2, 6-4 victory over her younger sister on Saturday night in the first prime-time women's U.S Open final.

The preliminary national rating for CBS Sports' telecast was 6.8 with a 13 share.

That means an average of 6.8 percent of all of the country's TV homes were tuned in to the tennis at any given time, and 13 percent of in-use televisions were tuned to CBS.

It was the largest TV audience of any program Saturday night, including ABC Sports' coverage of No. 5 Nebraska's 27-10 win over No. 17 Notre Dame. The college football game's ratings might have suffered because Nebraska opened a 17-point lead early.

Venus and Serena didn't play exceptionally, and their match was rather lopsided, too.

Still, the TV audience for the first Grand Slam championship match between sisters in 117 years increased each half-hour during the broadcast, peaking with a 7.7 from 9:30-10 p.m.

The high numbers might prompt the U.S. Tennis Association, which runs the tournament, and CBS to keep the women's final at night. It previously was played on Saturday afternoon, sandwiched between the men's semifinals.

"It was a one-year experiment. We agreed to try it for a year, and we will talk to the USTA about it in the next few months," CBS Sports president Sean McManus said Sunday.

"Judging from the viewer interest, it was a phenomenal event. It really transcended sports and became a news item. People who wouldn't normally watch a women's tennis event tuned in to see what all the buzz was about."

A potential sticking point for next year is that CBS owns the TV rights to the college football game between national powers Miami and Florida scheduled for Sept. 7, 2002, the same Saturday as the U.S. Open women's final next year.

"It would take some working out," McManus said.

IceHock

Mar 18th, 2006, 09:56 PM

i thought it was gunna be nfl if it was that i'd say wow this is good though

Brooklyn90

Mar 18th, 2006, 09:57 PM

thats really great! I would have thought that the 2002 us open would have had more veiwers though. Does anybody know how many tuned in for that one?

Simplicity

Mar 18th, 2006, 10:07 PM

^^ Not sure, but I am sure it was a lot. I have heard several commentators saying that wehenver a williams play, the ratings immensely increase. :)

Brooklyn90

Mar 18th, 2006, 10:13 PM

yeah the 2004 finals where serena played sharapova was down in the tv rating compared to the 2003 final where serena played venus

i definitely think the williams' are more intriguing to the general US public...

although i'm not a big fan, they are basically the one largest reason that women's tennis coverage increased in the early 2000s despite many events moving overseas...i remember when tons of mini events were in places like vermont, houston, oklahoma city (not so long ago!) etc, and it made for lots more tv coverage

More people no Venus and Serena than Sharapova...and Venus and Serena have clearly achieved more...I don't know what you're trying to prove here...

plus this is old news...

Volcana

Mar 19th, 2006, 12:38 AM

i definitely think the williams' are more intriguing to the general US public...

although i'm not a big fan, they are basically the one largest reason that women's tennis coverage increased in the early 2000s despite many events moving overseas...i remember when tons of mini events were in places like vermont, houston, oklahoma city (not so long ago!) etc, and it made for lots more tv coverageAnother issue for Sharapova is that she's .... I'm NOT talking about her tennis here, a bit generic.

If you're looking at a tall, slender Black woman playing tennis, you know you're watching Venus. If it's a more averaged-height Black woman with an enormous chest (playing in lingerie) it's Serena.

If she so tiny she's waif-like, but with HUGE cuts at the ball, it's Henin-Hardenne.

Lindsay, Kuzzy, Mary Pierce, Clijsters, they all have a look unique to them, relative to the world's top thirty.

If it's a pale skinned Russian over 5'10, it's Sharapova. Or Dementieva. Or Bovina. Or Safina.

How many newbies who tuned in for today's final is going to have an easy time picking out Dementieva for Sharapova next time around?

VS Fan

Mar 19th, 2006, 12:58 AM

Volcana:

If you're looking at a tall, slender Black woman playing tennis, you know you're watching Venus. If it's a more averaged-height Black woman with an enormous chest (playing in lingerie) it's Serena.

Wonderful observation!!

Martian Jeza

Mar 19th, 2006, 01:05 AM

American football ? Who cares

darrinbaker00

Mar 19th, 2006, 02:10 AM

American football ? Who cares
Americans, that's who. Any more silly questions?

Simplicity

Mar 19th, 2006, 06:30 AM

More people no Venus and Serena than Sharapova...and Venus and Serena have clearly achieved more...I don't know what you're trying to prove here...

plus this is old news...
If you could read, you would probably know what I am tyring to prove ;)

tennisrox

Mar 19th, 2006, 07:01 AM

Wow.I know their finals sucked, but they did bring viewers to the game. :yeah:

AjdeNate!

Mar 19th, 2006, 07:14 AM

American football ? Who cares
College, at that. And the #5/#17 teams. :help:

Donald

Mar 19th, 2006, 11:03 AM

This post is for the people, which to my surprise are many, that thinks people believe Sharapova's accomplishments are more unbelievable that that of the Williams'. It is also to address that those of you who think Americans would prefer to watch Sharapova. This article is to prove how much some of us need schooling, in particular this individual

NEW YORK (AP) -- Venus and Serena Williams helped make tennis more popular than football, for one night at least.

Nearly 23 million viewers watched at least part of Venus' 6-2, 6-4 victory over her younger sister on Saturday night in the first prime-time women's U.S Open final.

The preliminary national rating for CBS Sports' telecast was 6.8 with a 13 share.

That means an average of 6.8 percent of all of the country's TV homes were tuned in to the tennis at any given time, and 13 percent of in-use televisions were tuned to CBS.

It was the largest TV audience of any program Saturday night, including ABC Sports' coverage of No. 5 Nebraska's 27-10 win over No. 17 Notre Dame. The college football game's ratings might have suffered because Nebraska opened a 17-point lead early.

Venus and Serena didn't play exceptionally, and their match was rather lopsided, too.

Still, the TV audience for the first Grand Slam championship match between sisters in 117 years increased each half-hour during the broadcast, peaking with a 7.7 from 9:30-10 p.m.

The high numbers might prompt the U.S. Tennis Association, which runs the tournament, and CBS to keep the women's final at night. It previously was played on Saturday afternoon, sandwiched between the men's semifinals.

"It was a one-year experiment. We agreed to try it for a year, and we will talk to the USTA about it in the next few months," CBS Sports president Sean McManus said Sunday.

"Judging from the viewer interest, it was a phenomenal event. It really transcended sports and became a news item. People who wouldn't normally watch a women's tennis event tuned in to see what all the buzz was about."

A potential sticking point for next year is that CBS owns the TV rights to the college football game between national powers Miami and Florida scheduled for Sept. 7, 2002, the same Saturday as the U.S. Open women's final next year.

"It would take some working out," McManus said.

Graf-Sanchez, Wimbledon 1995, had higher ratings in the U.S. than Serena-Sharapova, Wimbledon 2004.
Enough said ....

Viktymise

Mar 19th, 2006, 12:40 PM

More people watched the Venus v Lindsay final last year than the sharapova serena final the year before on the BBC which is kinda stupid cause the BBC still think Sharapova is a bigger ratings gainer

Veenut

Mar 19th, 2006, 10:44 PM

[QUOTE]Another issue for Sharapova is that she's .... a bit generic.

If it's a pale skinned Russian over 5'10, it's Sharapova. Or Dementieva. Or Bovina. Or Safina.

You have this totally correct. Also she has been too "manufactured" for the market in trying to be a replacement for Anna so much so, that she lacks her own uniqueness. For the people who are not tennis fans, they definately cannot single her out from the other "white" tall girls. If I should mention her name to people around me who aren't tennis fans, I might as well be talking about Myskina, Bovina ....as their faces would wear the same :confused: expression.

no way:eek: which ones, do you know? it just shows that our babydoll was a powerhouse, and that powerhouse will re-establish herself very soon:kiss:

TomTennis

Mar 19th, 2006, 10:58 PM

More people watched the Venus v Lindsay final last year than the sharapova serena final the year before on the BBC which is kinda stupid cause the BBC still think Sharapova is a bigger ratings gainer

yeh i remeber hearing that those ratings were HUGE! Yet again i think the womens final pulled in more than the men? if im correct i think that happened in 2002 as well. Cant remeber any figures or anything though.

Venus, Serena and Kournikova certainly have put womens tennis on the map all around the world since 2000. Maria is just continually adding to it, making Venus, Serena, Anna and Maria (in no particular order) the most famous (current) athletes in the game.

fonsito

Mar 19th, 2006, 11:03 PM

oh well, sharapova is the most paid female at only 18 :drool:

fonsito

Mar 19th, 2006, 11:03 PM

yeh i remeber hearing that those ratings were HUGE! Yet again i think the womens final pulled in more than the men? if im correct i think that happened in 2002 as well. Cant remeber any figures or anything though.

Venus, Serena and Kournikova certainly have put womens tennis on the map all around the world since 2000. Maria is just continually adding to it, making Venus, Serena, Anna and Maria (in no particular order) the most famous (current) athletes in the game.

lol @ no particular order. kournikova is way more famous than serena, venus and maria put together

TomTennis

Mar 20th, 2006, 07:59 AM

lol @ no particular order. kournikova is way more famous than serena, venus and maria put together

thats why i said "no particular order" :lol:

Dasha_

Mar 20th, 2006, 10:16 AM

More people watched the Venus v Lindsay final last year than the sharapova serena final the year before on the BBC which is kinda stupid cause the BBC still think Sharapova is a bigger ratings gainer

That was one of the best matches I've ever seen.

Summer Snow

Apr 13th, 2006, 02:13 AM

lol @ no particular order. kournikova is way more famous than serena, venus and maria put together

:o Love em or hate em. There is NO denying that Venus and Serena Williams are thee most famous women in tennis, PERIOD. :o :help:

Brooklyn90

Apr 13th, 2006, 03:05 AM

American football ? Who cares
american foot ball is what soccer is to europe

Brooklyn90

Apr 13th, 2006, 03:07 AM

oh well, sharapova is the most paid female at only 18 :drool:
yeah but serena has the biggest clothing contract in history of women's sports! :) :drool:

VeeReeDavJCap81

Apr 13th, 2006, 03:27 AM

Face it, in the US the mainstream audience know Venus and Serena. Everyone knows who they are, they're household names. End of story.

Brooklyn90

Apr 13th, 2006, 03:31 AM

Face it, in the US the mainstream audience know Venus and Serena. Everyone knows who they are, they're household names. End of story.
:worship: :worship: :worship: true

SAEKeithSerena

Apr 13th, 2006, 04:02 AM

Face it, in the US the mainstream audience know Venus and Serena. Everyone knows who they are, they're household names. End of story.

well put! they were a rating jauggernaut, and they will continue to be:p

tennisluver99

Apr 13th, 2006, 04:54 AM

:worship:

MH0861

Apr 13th, 2006, 05:02 AM

no way:eek: which ones, do you know? it just shows that our babydoll was a powerhouse, and that powerhouse will re-establish herself very soon:kiss:

Serena Williams captured her seventh Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open and continues to be a ratings winner for ESPN2. The network announced today that its live coverage of Williams' 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory over top-seeded Lindsay Davenport in Friday night's final registered a 1.5 rating and was viewed in an average 1.35 million households making it ESPN2's highest-rated and most-viewed tennis telecast in history.

The Williams sisters, Andre Agassi and Jennifer Capriati have generated some of the highest-ratings in ESPN2 history.

Serena Williams has shown her star power in prevailing in the three highest-rated tennis telecasts in ESPN2 history. The network’s previous highest-rated tennis telecasts were the 2003 Australian Open women’s semifinal, which featured Williams saving match points against Kim Clijsters and last week's Oz Open women’s semifinals in which Williams fought off three match points to claim a captivating 2-6, 7-5, 8-6 victory over Maria Sharapova. Both matches registered a rating of 1.1 with the Williams-Sharapova match drawing an average audience of 1 million households.

ESPN’s coverage of the 2004 Australian Open women’s final earned a 0.9 average rating and was viewed in an average of 843,000 households.

Serena Williams captured her seventh Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open and continues to be a ratings winner for ESPN2. The network announced today that its live coverage of Williams' 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory over top-seeded Lindsay Davenport in Friday night's final registered a 1.5 rating and was viewed in an average 1.35 million households making it ESPN2's highest-rated and most-viewed tennis telecast in history.

The Williams sisters, Andre Agassi and Jennifer Capriati have generated some of the highest-ratings in ESPN2 history.

Serena Williams has shown her star power in prevailing in the three highest-rated tennis telecasts in ESPN2 history. The network’s previous highest-rated tennis telecasts were the 2003 Australian Open women’s semifinal, which featured Williams saving match points against Kim Clijsters and last week's Oz Open women’s semifinals in which Williams fought off three match points to claim a captivating 2-6, 7-5, 8-6 victory over Maria Sharapova. Both matches registered a rating of 1.1 with the Williams-Sharapova match drawing an average audience of 1 million households.

ESPN’s coverage of the 2004 Australian Open women’s final earned a 0.9 average rating and was viewed in an average of 843,000 households.